Coupler key



June 10,1930. Y Y E. G. GOODWIN 1,763,429 A GOUPLER KEY Filed Sept. 18l 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l y V l 1N V EN TOR.

276. GOOHW/IV. BM bgg 14. A TTORNE/ June l0, 1930. E. G. GooDwIN 1,763,429

COUPLER KEY Filed Sept. 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented June 1o, 1930 :ERNEST G. GOODWIN, PELE-IAM, NEV YORK, ASSIGIWOR T0 SIIANDARD` GOUPLER COMPANY, OF NEW'YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OIE' NEW JERSEY COUPLER KEY Application led September 18, 1925. Serial No. 57,080.

This invention relates to rretaining means for slidable fasteners and has for its particular object the provision of a simple and efficient means for retaining in place a draft i key. f J

A further object of thepresent invention lies in the provision of a iiat draft key notched transversely on one of its wider faces, the base of the notch sloping with rem spect to the axis of the draft key sothatthe inserted key retaining member will trans mit stress directly from the sill to the body of the key thereby obviating the danger of loss of arkey by reason of the shearing of 1 the usual cotter.

Up to the present time it hasbeen the almost universal practice among manufacturers ofl railways equipment to retain coupler or draft keys by bending a piece of 2c; f/g inch stock into U-form and then inserting the legs of such U-member or bolt in spaced holes in the key, afterwhich one or both of the extending ends or legs are bent over to prevent the bolt from workinguout. Altho 25` not fullysatisfactory this method ofcotter` ing draft keys has become general, probably because of relative cheapness and the easeV with which a4 new Cotter may be inserted when the old one becomes worn.` 30

employing awasher. Cotters however, fail due to a cause totally distinct from wear, namely, the shear caused by the angling of fi solutely no effect to relieve the cotter of thisV The' wear on a cotter or U-bolt of thisy type may be and ordinarilyr isreducedby` cheek plate or draft sill, thisgiving a close approximation ofthe `adding of asecond head tothe key and practically eliminating all shear action.

lnthe drawings Figure l is a view partly in longitudinal section thru a draft rigging showing, two keys each having applied thereto= a retainer embodying the present invention.`

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section thru the draft sills and saddleplate showing one of the keys in elevation.

vFigure 3 is a vertical section thru akey showing the retainer in elevation.

Figures il. and 5 show a modification in which theV filler isv U-shaped and-issecured in place by a bolt passing thru thetwo ends1 ofthe illerand thru the key. Figures 6 and 7 show a further modification in which the filler is curvedvtokeep the ends from contacting with the sillsrwhen the key is at an angle to the transverse center line ofthe car, the key-in this-modification having no bolt receiving hole tlierethru.`

Figures 8, 9, and lO show'a still further modification in which theiiileris curved around the sides of the key.

Figures ll and l2 show a modification 1n which thetop and bottomY filler blocks are secured together by a plurality of bolts.

Figures 13y and 14j show the iiller piece asbeing the head of' a 'T-bolt.

Figures 15 and 16 show a modified form of filler.

Figures 17, 18, and 19 show the filler as forniedrof a fiat U bolt passing thru the slots in the key. Y

Figure 20 shows the notch in the key as havingits outery wall perpendicular to the axis of the key.

In the simple form shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the filler 11 is a simple rectangular block seated in` a tilted manner in a V-shaped transverse notch of the key 12, the outer wall 15 of the transverse notch being relatively steep while the other wall 16 of the notch which forms the floor thereto slopes at a slight angle, the dihedral angle between the two sides of the notch preferably tho not necessarilybeing a right angle. In these figures the conventional parts of'a coupling deviceV are shown including vthe coupler 17, yoke 18, sills 19, spring barrel 20, saddle or carry plate 21, top plate 22, and the keys are shown as having the usual heads 24:.

*As illustrated the rigging uses two keys but obviously'the invention is not so limited and in Vfact pertains to any slidable fastener retaining means. The fillers 11 should be heldV in position by some preferably removable means and for this purpose I may employ the usual U-bolt 25 bent from a piece of cylindricalstock and with the ends bent over after assembly as at 26 to preventV the inclined fillers from climbing up when drawn into contact with the draft sills.

In the form shown in rFigures l and 5 the key 12a is notched at both top and bottom and the filler 11a is bent to U-shape, the two ends 11b and 11c terminating substantially in line with one of the side edges or narrow faces of the key, the. filler member 11a being held in place by a bolt 28 having the usual nut 29 and nut lock 30. As will be noted .i the bolt is preferably bent so as to be normal to each end of the filler 11a In Figures 6 and 7 the key 12d has two notches substantially as before except that the notches are slightly curved so that the filler 11d may itself be curved in order to clear the draft sill or car framing when the key, which is always at right angles to the coupler,is,turned to an appreciable angley with the transverse center line of the car. In this modification the bolt 28f1 is positioned to one side of the key and the key therefore has no opening of any kind therethru. preciably more expensive than the other forms shown but it has quite `decided advantages.

The simple and inexpensive design shown in Figures 8, 9, and 10 also requires no hole thru Vthe key 12e which has a transverse notch on the top face only which notch how- This form of the invention is ap? ever, may extend slightly over on the rounded sides. VThe filler 11e is a single piece of material preferably with a preformed hooked end 11f. The filler is slipped into position and then the free end 11g is bent from the position shown inv dotted lines to the position shown in `full lines, the two ends when the filler or retainer is in place, facing each other.

The filler block 11h in the modification shown 'in Figures 11 and 12 isexactly the same as in Figure 1 but in this form there is a second filler 11l exactly similar to the filler 11 but located on the bottom wide face. Thebolt 28 with` its nut 29 and nut lock 30 'passes thru both of `the fillers and thru the `key 12h itself.

In Figures 13 and 14 the key 12k has a single notch as in Figure 1 but in this case the filler 11k is the head of a bolt, the'stem of which is indicated at 28k. It Awill. be

notedthat the head is not normal to the stem as I much prefer that the long wall or floor of the notch shall slope downwardly .toward the axis in the direction of the tapered end 36 of the key, this in` order that the stress caused `by the driving of the key toward the sill by friction between the key and coupler will be resisted bythe solid block of metal of the filler so that the stress is transmitted from the sill directly to the body of the key, practically eliminating all possibility of shear as lthe shear stress line is thru the entire filler and thru a section of the key substantially the same in area.

In Figures 15 and 16 the filler 11m is a trapezoid in plan, the corners 11n being cut away to clear the'sill as previously described. In this form the filler itself is tapered, the bottom face seating in the sloping floor of the notch 10m in the key 12m while the top face 11o is parallel with the axis of the key.

The designy of draft key retainer shown in Figures 17, 18, and 19, is especially attractive in that it is very economical and is a thoroughly practical device. In` this form which at present is the preferred type of the invention as far as the invention relates to Vdraft keys, the Vkey 12p vhas the usual transverse notch 10, the floor slopping from the upper flat face of the key down` to a point shortof where the taper of the key begins and the other wall of the notch is quite steep making an angle of 90o with the wall of the notch. .The key itself is slotted. in two places indicated at 38 and 39, these slots being parallel, longitudinally disposed, and of such size as to receive the legs ofa fillerlll of the same width as the notch; in other words the filler is preferably at least twice as wide as it is thick. The filler 111 is first bent into VU-shape and the legs 11q of the U are then placed within the slots V38 andV 39 afterwhich the ends of the iiller 11p are bent over as shown in Figure lt), serving to keep the filler permanently in place.

Figure 20 shows a slight modification suitable for use with any of the other types, the difference being that the sloping notch 10a has its shorter wall l0" normal to the key axis, and the notch 10C at the bottom of the key is shown as having three sides, the floor being parallel to the major axis of the cross section and to the axis of the key and both of the short walls being at righ angles to the floor of the notch. in this gure the upper ller block lll is substantially the saine in cross section as the filler block 11m of Figure 1G and the lower iiller block 11S may be of any of the, styles of single filler faces shown.

What I claim is 1. A draft key having near one end two spaced holes, and having a transverse notch between said holes, the wall of the notch nearest the end of the key being relatively steep with respect to the longitudinal axis f of the key.

2; A headed draft key having near the headless end two spaced holes, and having a transverse il-shaped notch between said holes, the wall of the notch nearest the headless end of the key being steep, the other wall of the notch sloping inward from the margin of the holes nearest the headed end.

3. A draft key of elongated flat type having a notch formed in one of the wide faces adjacent one end of the key, said notch being of greater length than half the width of the key and one wall of the notch being steeper with respect to the longitudinal axis of the key than is the other, said notch being adapted to receive a key retainer.

t. A draft key having at least one head-r less end and near saine two spaced holes, and having a transverse t/shaped notch between said holes, the wall of the notch nearest the proximate end of the key being steep,

the other wall of the notch which forms the floor of the notch, sloping gently upward from the steep wall of the 4notch.

5. ik draft key transversely notched near one end, the bottom face of the notch sloping with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the key so that when a member is placed in the notch to transmit shear from the sill to the body of the key it will be s tilted down toward the near end of the ke the outer wall of said notch being curved about a center outside of the key, whereby when the sill engaging face of the shear transmitting member is similarly curved it will remain tangent to the sill during angling of the draft gear.

G. An elongated `flat draft key having at least one headless end and having near a i headless end two spaced holes and having on cach of its two wide faces a notch, one wall senesi e. eoonyin. 

